Australian navy rescues man rowing from US to Brisbane caught in Cyclone Alfred

A Lithuanian rower has been rescued off the Queensland coast after he was caught in a tropical cyclone’s 130km/h winds and monster waves.

Aurimas Mockus ran into trouble about 740 kilometres east of Mackay while attempting a 12,000 kilometre Pacific Ocean crossing from San Diego to Brisbane in his solo rowing boat.

HMAS Choules, a 16,000-tonne Royal Australian Navy landing ship, rescued Mockus on Monday morning.

Lithuanian man Aurimas Mockus, who got into trouble in the Coral Sea as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bore down.Credit: Aurimas Mockus

He was on his way back to Australian shores after a two-day wait in the turbulent ocean waters due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

Mockus set off on the journey in October and was days away from reaching his final destination after rowing about 70 nautical miles a day.

He was bracing for the “maximum power” of the cyclone on Thursday, saying he just needed to survive the next two days.

Aurimas Mockus is facing rough seas as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bears down on him in the Coral Sea.Credit: Aurimas Mockus

But the waves proved too much when Cyclone Alfred began intensifying in the warm Coral Sea waters to a category two system with constant 95km/h winds and gusts of up to 130km/h.

The system caused swell to grow into monster multiple metre-high waves, prompting Mockus to activate his emergency beacon late on Friday.

A search and rescue mission began immediately, but a Cairns-based Challenger jet sent to find the rower failed to spot Mockus on Saturday. It did, however, make contact with the tired rower.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority communicated with the adventurer via the rescue aircraft through an interpreter on Sunday.

The agency said Mockus had not reported any major injuries.

Mockus was attempting to join a short list of ocean rowers to make the Pacific crossing solo without stopping.

Brit Peter Bird was the first in 1983, followed by countryman John Beeden in 2015 and Australian Michelle Lee in 2023.

Fellow Australian Tom Robinson, who was attempting to become the youngest to accomplish the feat albeit with a break in the Cook Islands, spent 265 days at sea before he was rescued off Vanuatu in 2023.

The 24-year-old Queenslander’s rowboat capsized, leaving him clinging naked to the hull for about 14 hours before he was rescued by a cruise ship that made a 200-kilometre detour.

Weather conditions have eased near the Coral Sea but it’s still within the influence of the cyclone, which was about 510 kilometres east of Rockhampton on Sunday morning.

The category two cyclone is forecast to move south, roughly parallel to the coastline, on Sunday before weakening slightly and moving south-east on Monday.

It’s then expected to slow and turn west from Tuesday, travelling back towards the southern Queensland coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology says strong to gale-force winds may hit K’gari on Sunday.

AAP